Eternal Darkness

Now these guys have a pretty mixed past history. Their first demo was death metal that completely destroyed the two full-lengths that followed it. It took nearly ten years for the band to regain whatever potential they had left and revamp it to record an album’s worth of new material. So basically, the band was a second rate, second wave sounding black metal band that turned themselves into a second rate, second wave sounding black metal band with better production; nice try, guys.

Compared to the first two albums, this one is miles better already because the focus is on the riffs, not the keys. Keys are still very apparent and gimmicky, sure, but they were the focal point of the band previously. Now they’re restricted to supplying shitty Limbonic Art-inspired melodies while the music plays out like a less symphonic Dimmu Borgir. The guitar tone itself is thick and heavy thanks to the production, which is fantastic, really. I can’t complain about it except for the drums, which this band never seemed to get right. The only member still around from the early days is the drummer, yet he’s always had shitty drum mixing and altogether shitty drumming. He’s way more aggressive this time around and his kit is coarse and tough, but the double bass is so clicky that I can’t help but think a drum machine was used.

Moving on, the songs are still straightforward and uneventful, though they are bearable, which says more than you can imagine if you haven’t heard the first two full-lengths. My biggest concern is the memorability and replayability factor of these tracks, which aren’t very high. Some riffs are good, yes, and certain songs induce headbanging, but I’m not very convinced by anything. Usually there’s a song or two that I really, really like by a band, but Eternal Darkness just happens to be an album full of mediocre to average tracks. Nothing completely sucks, I guess, but nothing is worth your time more than the next band that plays Dimmu Borgir worship music.

I’m glad the music doesn’t go overboard with the symphonic elements (read: keys) and instead focuses on the riffs; you really don’t know how happy I am when I say that. This time around they got somebody who could actually do vocals, too, but I wouldn’t dismiss the previous vocalist based on his growls alone. The previous vocalist sucked at screams, so there wasn’t much for this new guy to do to fill in his shoes and beat the last guy with his first exhale. The screams here are rougher and deeper than the frail shrieks before, and sometimes we get burly growls and rare, chunky cleans that I can at least tolerate. Nothing special about this vocalist, either, but he gets the job done.

By the end, it all starts to sound similar like the other two albums, so nothing gets accomplished. While I would consider this the band’s best full-length, it’s still a pretty mediocre offering that you can find with most any other band in this league. Enochian is a band of people who play black metal – pretty generic statement for a pretty generic band, but it works.